Courting & Prepping
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day 1461a: Up in her castle's chambers, Lady Emily Holt is being prepared to meet a potential suitor thanks to her loyal handmaidens, Nora and Grace. - Sunshine Girls 2 series extra - GENRE SWAP - ANNIVERSARY CYCLE, day 12, shift A - END OF YEAR MESSAGE AT END


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 69th cycle. Now cycle 70!_

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**_GLEEKATHON FOURTH ANNIVERSARY CYCLE -_**_ It's October again, which means another year of Gleekathon is about to wrap up! At the end of the month it will have been four years since I've started doing my daily stories! As always, I will be celebrating this with a special cycle of stories to touch on my favorite stories I've done throughout the year. There will be two installments each on Thursdays, Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays. The remaining days will feature, as they have in the last several months, new chapters of the latest story in my Doctor Who/Glee crossover series. As far as the anniversary stories go, it will be as I've done before, taking those past stories and either doing a prequel, sequel, POV swap, genre swap, alternate ending, or additional scenes._

**_This_**_ **story** is a GENRE SWAP to "Guiding & Dressing" a Sunshine Girls 2 series story originally posted on July 31 2013._

_(This is a shift day, which means there will be two stories posted today!)_

**_A/N: END OF FOURTH GLEEKATHON YEAR message at the end! :D_**

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**"Courting & Prepping"  
Nora (AU!Beth), Emily, Grace, Kelly, Francesca  
Sunshine Girls 2 series extra  
GENRE SWAP: Period  
_(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)_  
**

When young Lady Emily had been brought to be fostered by her aunt and uncle, she had brought along two young handmaidens, from what little remained of servants to House Holt. Nora and Grace had been with her for years now, and she trusted them above all else. She needed them more than ever, now that it had become decided she was to find a proper suitor and be married.

Grace had made her way up all through the castle to reach her lady's chambers so fast that she had to wait outside a moment and catch her breath, compose herself, before she went through the door.

"He's here, my lady," she announced. She knew Lady Emily would rather have done away with the titles and all the reverence, but Grace couldn't help herself any more than Nora could. They had been trained properly, the both of them. It was fine behind closed doors, but if they should forget themselves before the lord and lady of the house here, it could mean their expulsion.

"He can't be," Lady Emily went to look out to the grounds below. Nora had been able to speak, but she'd stopped when the redheaded girl returned. "It's too soon, I won't do it."

"You must," Nora told her. "You have to go to him, my lady, or your uncle will think you disrespectful if you don't introduce yourself."

"And then what?" she frowned.

"It's only a greeting," Grace reminded her. "And tonight there will be a feast, to welcome our guest."

"All this welcoming, he has to know they're glad he's here, doesn't he?" Lady Emily played at her sleeve.

"He's kind, so I've heard, my lady," Grace told her. "You've met him before."

"Exactly, I did meet him, so why should I introduce myself?"

"Please," Nora stepped up, and to hear her keep from tacking on a 'my lady,' the girl turned to face her. "There are plenty of suitors out there who would make you a sad wife. This is Lord Schaeffer's son, and he will be good to you. He cares for you, and we know you care for him in return." She would stop short of ordering her to go downstairs, but it was as implied as it could be. Lady Emily kept her gaze, to see if she would falter, but she didn't.

"Very well," she sighed, and she moved past them so fast the two handmaidens had to scramble to follow her and fall in step with her.

They would make it down just in time to prevent them being called down. They all took their places to welcome the Lords of House Schaeffer. Young Lord Kelly was not a man of many words, but when he came to stand before the girl he would possibly marry, his few words escaped him completely. Now Lady Emily had done her part, and she would be free to leave their guests, if only to prepare for the feast.

She wasn't ready, not mentally, and certainly not physically.

If she didn't have her handmaidens, she would have been all too satisfied to present herself as she was now, but this wouldn't do, and so they would get her ready, whether she liked it or not. They knew, at least this time, that it was about nerves. While she had been ready to put together a few things and run away from the castle at the mere mention of her previous suitors, this one was different, whether she would admit it or not. Nora had been right to say that her lady cared for the young lord, and that was what frightened her. She didn't want to ruin it. She had never believed she could ever have him present himself as her potential husband, and now he was. She had one chance to make this happen, and what if he didn't feel for her enough to accept this union?

They would prepare her as well as one lady could be prepared. They would put everything they could into making sure they got Lord Kelly's attention. So long as Lady Emily felt good about the way she was presented, the rest would be entirely in her hands.

After they'd poured the bath, the handmaidens would leave their lady and begin seeking the perfect dress for her. Nora was distracted however. She had sought to have her lady's council on a delicate matter. Regardless of the fact that she was a servant and so below her lady's standing, they were friends, and Lady Emily would always gladly listen to her or Grace. This was how she had come to know of her affections for her partner, and of how she was simply unable to breathe a word of it. She also knew how much time she had been spending with Francesca, her counterpart in the service of Lady Emily's aunt.

Only two days prior, Nora had gone to find Francesca, and they had snuck up into the vacant tower. It was only meant to be kissing, and that was as far as it had ever gone up to then. But that night they had laid together, and she knew if either of them was ever discovered, it would mean the end of their time here. If there was anyone she could trust with this information, it was her lady. If she knew ahead of time, then she might have been able to do something, if the truth did come out.

"Here, this will do," Grace's voice had distracted her. Nora still wished it could be her sometimes, that they would be the one with a secret on the line. Even if they were thrown out of the castle, they could leave together, and they could be happy.

"Yes… yes, it will do," she agreed.

Lady Emily was dressed, and Nora looked after her hair, while Grace put in the rest of the finishing touches. When everything was all said and done, Lady Emily Holt was ready to meet Lord Kelly Schaeffer at the feast.

They would be happy together. If she didn't know it, she at least believed it, and would continue to. She had only had this in her dreams, but now reality was giving her a chance.

THE END

******THE FOURTH YEAR OF GLEEKATHON ENDS WITH TODAY'S**** STORIES!**  
_Tomorrow will be the anniversary, which means the start of a fifth year of daily stories! Since tomorrow is a crossover chapter day, I wanted to take time here to throw a big thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my stories, and especially to those who have taken the time to send reviews. You have truly made a difference in the day-to-day of keeping up with these stories every day, and I cannot thank you enough! The last year has been a crazy one as far as keeping up with everything, but I'm hanging in there, and I'm going to carry on, so keep on reading! :D_

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******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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